Western Sydney Wanderers Hyundai A-League team have gone down 2-0 to Perth Glory in Round 10 of the Hyundai A-League at HBF Park.
The Wanderers fell to goals in each half as Glory came away with the three competition points.
On what was a tough night in oppressive conditions, the Red & Black tried hard but could not find a way through the resolute Perth defence.
The Wanderers had suffered a massive blow before kick off with goalkeeper Daniel Lopar, forced to withdraw because of illness.
Nick Suman came into the starting line-up for his first game since January, one of three changes to the side that was beaten by Wellington Phoenix last week.
Head coach Markus Babbel brought in Tarek Elrich at left-back for Daniel Wilmering while Patrick Ziegler replaced Dylan McGowan in the heart of the defence alongside Matthew Jurman.
The Wanderers started the game in great style and had the Glory defence in trouble on two minutes when Pirmin Schwegler played a delightful ball into the path of Kwame Yeboah.
Glory goalkeeper Liam Reddy came out quickly to block Yeboah’s shot but the ball fell to the feet of Mitchell Duke who attempted a curling shot that hit the junction of the right post and crossbar.
Suman was called into action in the sixth minute, saving a header from Chris Ikonomidis before doing well to get down quickly to deflect a Diego Castro shot three minutes later.
Glory took the lead in the 18th minute following a scramble in the penalty area.
A corner from the left found Bruno Fornaroli, who sent a bicycle kick towards the left post where Chris Ikonomidis headed on to the bar. The ball rebounded straight to Gregory Wuthrich to head home from close range.
The Red & Black then worked hard to keep the home side at bay.
The Wanderers had a good spell in the opening 15 minutes of the second half as they looked to get back into the game but the task was made more difficult when Alex Grant grabbed the home side’s second goal on 67 minutes.
Babbel, who brought on Alex Meier for Bruce Kamau at half time, made two more changes during the second half but it was to no avail.
